“There was once a college professor in Boston who was denied tenure and had to take up driving a cab, and there was a Kansas farmer who saved up for years to go to Boston for a real fish dinner. The two met when the professor picked the farmer up at the train. ‘Where to?’ said the prof. ‘Take me where I can get scrod,’ said the farmer. ‘Well, I’ve never heard that form of that verb, but I know where to take you.’

You have to wonder if Bob Torricelli feels the same way.

The worst-kept secret in New Jersey politics is the fact that the Torch wants back in. He ain’t saying it, but it couldn’t be more obvious. From a rather well curated Facebook page to strong appearances on MSNBC, he’s out and about, and he’s been on the fundraiser circuit for other candidates since at least the summer of ’16.

When last in the game, Torricelli set the parameters for Bush 43’s choice for a new NJ USA—an up-and-coming Chris Christie—requiring him to take on a trial-experienced AUSA as training wheels on Christie’s slim experience.

Shortly thereafter, the Torch became embroiled in a fairly low-bore ethics scandal. The Dems fancy footwork in replacing him in the 11th electoral hour is now the legal standard for replacing a candidate, and was the ruination of Senator Lautenberg’s retirement.

One couldn’t blame the Torch for looking at the current ethical climate—and Senator Menendez’s Teflon act—and feeling like he got screwed all those years ago. Who knows.

But Friday on MSNBC, Torricelli looked unusually strong. The typical Dem strategy as to Donald Trump has been to assume Catastrophe Trump will win the Dems the day. His batshit act will eventually tank him; Mueller will take him down; his base will abandon him. The Torch knows better. Last week on MSNBC, he articulated a better understanding of the danger of Trump than anybody I’ve seen so far. If the goal is to get this Russian agent out of the oval office, the Torch looks like he is auditioning to lead the charge.

He gets it. Some “expert” suggested that a trade war with China would be Trump’s undoing. The Torch wasn’t having it. Trump just needs to outlast China, who needs our buyers to finance its deficit spending more than we need their cheap goods. If he forces them back to the table and has some concessions to sell … who knows? And, as if to prove the point, cut to the CNBC market report for healthy gains just days after the sanctions kicked in.

The Torch has Trump’s number. He’s seen the Trump act from across the Hudson and next to him on the tabloid pages. He knows Trump doesn’t have to outrun the bear, he just has to outrun YOU. Does Torricelli know what to do about Trump? Maybe, maybe not. But Friday he looked like he understood the game, and he wanted in.

Comments (2)

NJBlechJuly 18, 2018 at 11:08 pm

Torricelli’s ethics scandal can only be considered “low-bore” when measured against Menendez’ doozies. And course back then we had to deal with all the coverage of Torricelli’s pursuit of Bianca Jagger (this from the NY Times at the time: “Champagne, grapes and brie adorn the dining table, and steel drum echoes of Jimmy Buffett float across the deck. Torricelli plucks a brownie from the tray of temptations and dangles it before the lips of the world’s best-dressed human rights advocate, his romantic companion, Bianca Jagger.”). And the Torch’s temper was legendary, once threatening to cut Senator Lautenberg’s gonads off.

After Torricelli left the Senate he continued to make news thanks to an accident in which the judge’s ruling contradicted Torricelli’s testimony. A snippet from the coverage at the time:

“Former Sen. Robert Torricelli was found guilty Thursday of leaving the scene of a fender-bender accident last summer.Torricelli was fined $200 and his driver’s license was suspended for six months, although he has 20 days to appeal before the suspension takes effect. His attorney said an appeal would be filed. A municipal judge ruled that the former Democratic lawmaker was behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle when it bumped into another car in a grocery store parking lot in Lambertville. Torricelli, 52, of Delaware Township, denied that he was driving the SUV. His ex-wife, Susan Holloway, testified that she was driving and Torricelli was a passenger. ‘My conclusion is that Sen. Torricelli was in fact driving the car, due to the fact that we have two eyewitnesses,’ Judge Richard Cushing said.”

Ethically-challenged Menendez needs to go because the Democrats can ill afford a competitive U.S. Senate race in Blue jersey this election cycle. However, talking up Torricelli as a viable alternative speaks volumes about the pathetic political state NJ is in. Only in NJ do people seriously consider swapping out an ethically-challenged sitting Senator (Menendez) with an ethically challenged ex-Senator (Torricelli).

NJBlech, Interesting that you would take a post commenting on a former NJ elected making the rounds on TV talking about Trump, who everybody is talking about right now, as ‘talking him up.’ I didn’t take Wikipedia Brown’s post as advocating that Torricelli be in power again so much as I took it as, Gee, what a savvy politician this guy still is. I disagree with you on the post, but thanks for coming and making your case.

One thing, though. I sat with Bianca Jagger for about 2 hours at a political luncheon, because we had a few acquaintances in common. She is serious business and easily the intellectual equal of the senator, who whatever his ethics transgressions is encyclopedic on any number of topics, certainly politics. The woman is fascinating, and it’s not because she’s pretty. Your description trivializes her, and she’s anything but.